Robert Saleh has dismissed suggestions the New York Jets fell victim to draft day sabotage at the hands of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
The "Gang Green" head coach insists Will McDonald was always going to be their selection after trading down from 13th to the 15th overall pick in the first round of the draft in Kansas City last month as part of the deal to acquire Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers.
Draft night saw the Pittsburgh Steelers do business with the Pats to jump from the 17th pick to number 14, leaping in front of the Jets to select offensive tackle Broderick Jones. Injuries across the offensive line last season led many analysts to believe the Jets would take a tackle in the first round, with Georgia standout Jones set to be the best option left on the board when it was their turn to select according to most mock drafts.
But with the Steelers nipping in front of them, they took Iowa State pass rusher McDonald – a player many pundits had tabbed with a second-round grade.
But Saleh insists the Steelers' trade with the Patriots, which earned New England an extra fourth-round pick, had no bearing on who was going to be written on the Jets' draft card; he told NBC Sports the defensive end was always the player they had in mind “The difference between 13 and 15 in the way everything shook out made no difference to us," he said.
Whether Saleh was engaging in a bit of post-draft posturing to boost the confidence of McDonald is unknown, but the belief around the league is the Jets' plans were scuppered by the Patriots' decision to trade down.
And one anonymous general manager told the Washington Post after the draft that New England head coach Belichick deliberately accepted less value than the pick was worth just to derail the Jets' plan to beef up Rodgers' offensive line ahead of the new season.
"They should have had to give up a (third-rounder) and not a four to move up there,” the GM claimed. “Belichick did it just to f*** the Jets. He sold low because he knew the Steelers were going to take the kid the Jets wanted to take … I think the trade totally blindsided them. They were scrambling.”
The AFC East is shaping up to be one of the most eye-catching divisions in the NFL in 2023, with Rodgers' arrival from Green Bay dramatically increasing the Jets' hopes of making a deep run in the postseason.
The Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills were both playoff teams last year and they will be confident of contending again, while the Patriots have a rejigged coaching staff under Belichick that they hope will bring the best out of third-year quarterback Mac Jones after he endured a sophomore slump as New England missed out on the playoffs.
